DSG Connections 2018, Issue 1

DSG LA CROSSE Of Great Customers Celebrates 150 Years

2018 – ISSUE 1

CONNECTIONS THE HOBBY ISSUE

GO-TO PASTIMES OF DSG CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEE OWNERS

TIPS FOR DEFUSING

DISAGREEMENTS

AMONG YOUR CREW

Great Things Happening At Great River Energy

ON THE COVER |

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DSG CELEBRATES 150 YEARS OF GREAT CUSTOMERS

As DSG in La Crosse turns 150, see how it’s looking to celebrate its rich history with a special celebration for its customers.

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DSG’S FAVORITE HOBBIES

From restoring T-buckets to handcrafting instruments, Connections takes a closer look at some of the favorite (and unique) pastimes of DSG customers and employee owners.

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GREAT THINGS HAPPENING AT GREAT RIVER ENERGY

See how Great River Energy brought the lighting at its biggest power plant up to speed with the rest of its operation.

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DEFUSING DISAGREEMENTS

Check out five tips for handling conflict between two members of your team.

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PROFILES | HEADLINES

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RAISING THE BAR: DSG PARTNERS WITH THE NDSC TO ELEVATE SAFETY AWARENESS Check out how a partnership between DSG and the North Dakota

Safety Council resulted in a one-of-a-kind interactive training tool for electrical and mechanical workers in the Midwest.

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GETTING TO KNOW THE SENSUS FLEXNET SYSTEM Learn about the advantages of a smart water network like the Sensus FlexNet System.

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THE CROSSWORD CONNECTION Put your knowledge to the test and see how

many industry manufacturers you know.

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THE WIN COLUMN |

8 ON THE GRID: DAKOTA VALLEY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE GETS SMART WITH VERIZON AND DSG Read how Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative teamed up with DSG to become one of the very first utilities to use Verizon’s Grid Wide Utility Solutions.

8 FIXTURES | Meet The DSG Team Tom Ferree, DSG Chairman Of The Board .........................................................................20 Putting The Able In Accounts Receivable ............................................................................38

Grow Your Business Taking Orders: Four Ways To Plan For The Rise Of Digital Home Assistants .....................6 Better Every Day: How Training Can Build Your Business ..................................................22 Can Facebook Replace Your Website? ..................................................................................30 Putting Google AdWords To Work For Your Business .........................................................44

News Wire DSG Establishes Electrical Project Quotations And Management Team ...........................48 DSG Puts The Focus On Its Showrooms With New Initiative .............................................49 2018 P4 Learning Labs Give Contractors The Edge ............................................................50

State Of The Industry Plumbing – Darrin Walts .......................................................................................................25 Electrical – John Gearman.....................................................................................................36

Meet DSG’s New Chairman Of The Board

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. Roosev s at W.A n o i t a r Ope

elt in the early d

ays.

Today, DSG in La Crosse is one of western Wisconsin’s busiest distributors of HVAC/R, plumbing and electrical parts and materials.

When the branch opened 150 years ago as W.A. Roosevelt, however, its beginnings were Captain William both humble and interesting.

Albert Roosevelt W.A. Roosevelt Company was established in the basement of a simple La Crosse building back in 1868. At the time, former steamboat engineer Captain William Albert Roosevelt started the business as a small steamfitters shop, with boats and mills as his first customers. Roosevelt himself was a cousin of President Teddy Roosevelt and for a time served as an early mayor of La Crosse.

Before long, W.A. Roosevelt’s company became known as a wholesaler of wrought iron pipe and fittings, brass goods, engine trimmings, pumps and mill supplies. A pioneer in progressive leadership, W.A. Roosevelt Company was led by three female presidents over a 33-year span after W.A. Roosevelt’s death in 1894.

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Over time, the company made a name for itself as an innovator of new ideas, helping to introduce revolutionary products into several categories, including electrical components at the early stages of the commercialization of electricity in 1916, the creation of a radio department in 1922 and the formation of a residential and commercial refrigeration department in 1938.

“If you look back at the history, one characteristic of W.A. Roosevelt Company that allowed us to endure for 150 years was the ability to adapt,” says Todd Eber, director of marketing and analytics at DSG and former president and owner of W.A. Roosevelt. “It was as important for us then as it is now to evolve with the times in order to serve our customers in the best way possible.”

Success led to nearly a century of growth, and eventually W.A. Roosevelt included locations across southwestern Wisconsin. It became part of the DSG family in 2012, and today it is 100% employeeowned (as part of DSG’s ESOP program). “To be in business this long, it takes great customers,” says Eber. “To serve great customers, you need great people. We’ve been fortunate to have both.”

Though the name is new, DSG in La Crosse is

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d introduce W.A. Roosevelt’s first plumbing and lighting showrooms,

still grounded in its historic roots. In fact, the company is celebrating the 150th anniversary with a special customer celebration in July 2018. In addition to a vintage artifact hunt (see sidebar), DSG will hold open house events for customers, manufacturer-partners and employee owners that will include live music, giveaways and Mississippi River dinner cruises aboard the La Crosse Queen.

“This commemoration is all about celebrating our customers,” says Karl Wrobel, branch manager at DSG in La Crosse. “Some businesses have been working with us for 70 or 80 years. To think about all the things we’ve gone through alongside them – wars, the Depression, advances in technology – to come out on top together, that’s definitely worth celebrating.”

In Wrobel’s mind, there is a clear connection between a company’s past and its future. “Looking back at the photos and stories, it’s been quite a journey so far. It’s just the beginning, though.

Everyone at DSG is excited to turn this page and see what the next 150 years have in store.”

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en mid-tw

ading elt lo treet. v e s nt S Roo W.A. acing Fro . y f r u k ent doc tieth c

Help DSG celebrate the 150th anniversary of our location in La Crosse, WI. Since this branch was originally known as W.A. Roosevelt, we’re collecting vintage W.A. Roosevelt memorabilia for an exhibit at our open house in July 2018.

Share your vintage artifacts with us, and you could win a great prize!

We’re looking for items in the following categories: • Promo Items — apparel, giveaways, trinkets, etc.

• Doing Business — invoices, statements, general correspondence, etc.

• Products — including those with a W.A. Roosevelt logo DSG will award prizes for both the oldest and most unique items in each category. In addition, we’ll be choosing one entry as our “Daddy WARbucks” Best of Show item.

To submit a contest entry, go to www.lax150anniversary.com. We would love to display as many entries as possible during our open house activities, so we’re hopeful you’ll click “YES” to being willing to display your item.

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GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

TAKING ORDERS: FOUR WAYS TO PLAN FOR THE RISE OF DIGITAL HOME ASSISTANTS

The idea of the “smart home” has been around for some time, but nobody was entirely sure who would finally implement it. Instead of the construction industry, it turned out to be the technology sector. Phone makers, online search companies, internet retailers and even social media platforms are all introducing friendly digital assistants, artificial intelligence (AI) based “helpers” that feature a friendly voice and a commitment to interconnectedness.

Now, the construction trades are being compelled to catch up. Builders in large metropolitan areas are starting to actively promote the construction of smart homes as an option.

These houses don’t just include the typical amenities controlled by helpful AI assistants like lights, appliances and locks – some of them include cutting edge new Wi-Fi technology built right into the walls themselves.

As a contractor, what can you do to prepare for the Internet of Things 2.0? It’s not science fiction any more. Are you ready to take orders from an AI? Here are a few things to keep in mind as digital assistants start to boss us around.

1. Installing The Future As is so often the case with emerging technology, the key is to look forward. It isn’t enough to ask what smart features the homeowner may want today. A good contractor prompts a conversation about how smart home technology can be implemented in the future. To prepare, plumbers,

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electricians and HVAC/R technicians can suggest that infrastructure be built into the home that provides the flexibility to locate or even relocate appliances and controls years after construction is complete. Homeowners may not be ready for a smart shower today, but they may want to have options in the future.

2. Embracing The Opportunity Not everyone wants to build a new home just to improve their smart functionality. Many homeowners would prefer to have their current house get smarter – with minimal disruption to their everyday lives. This is a huge opportunity for savvy contractors to sell a “smart home remodel” that preps the house for digital assistant control. A conversation that begins with talk of an advanced new thermostat that allows for internet temperature control can very well end with a new heating and cooling system that improves overall performance.

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The smart home is just the beginning. Why not a smart office, too? In truth, this is an even bigger opportunity for many companies, and we’ve only scratched the surface. Business has always been focused on efficiency and productivity, and what better way to improve those elements of a workplace than to introduce an easier, faster, more convenient way to control the technology in it. Imagine that the lights come on by themselves when someone enters the warehouse and turn off when that person leaves, the coffee pot starts brewing five minutes before the meeting and the conference room lights adjust when the presenter asks the digital assistant to get ready for six people and a conference call.

4. Making Yourself Available Lastly, digital assistants are getting involved in the process of choosing a contractor. Just as all businesses needed to adapt when the internet replaced the phone book, now we need to be ready for old-fashioned search engines to be replaced by searches performed by helpful digital assistants. Fortunately, the essentials of search remain relatively unchanged: a good website has good information that is easy to find and simple to understand. In addition, some

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Trivial Tech

Can you answer these trivia questions about artificial intelligence, both real and fictional?

1. In what decade did formal AI research begin?

2. In the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, what is the name of the sentient computer?

3. What was the name of the computer that defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in chess in 1997?

4. Who directed the movie A.I. in 2001?

Answers: 1: 1950s; 2: Hal 9000; 3: Deep Blue; 4: Steven Spielberg, who took over after Stanley Kubrick died

3. Bringing It To The Office

digital assistant providers are introducing more direct connections, asking contractors to subscribe to programs that get them preferred referrals. It remains to be seen whether “call an electrician” will be a common command for a home AI to handle, but it doesn’t seem far fetched anymore. Keep an eye on these programs as the technology evolves. If digital assistants make more and more of these contacts, you will not want to be left behind.

Are you ready to take orders from a digital assistant? Are you prepared to make money by making homes and offices smarter? The future has arrived, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t benefit you and your business.

SOURCES: https://wtop.com/business-finance/2017/03/ local-builder-incorporates-alexa-new-houses/; https:// mashable.com/2017/06/14/wifi-certified-alexa-connectedsmart-homes/#DGNUd5w6cOqm; https://www. fastcompany.com/40512062/eight-trends-that-will-definethe-digital-assistant-wars-in-2018

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ON THE GRID:

Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative Gets Smart With Verizon And DSG Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative in southeastern North Dakota is dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable utility services to its members. At times that can be a challenge.

Like all organizations, the cooperative has a limited budget, but unlike most cooperatives its coverage area is massive and sparsely populated (approximately 5,600 square miles with more than 4,600 miles of line providing power to just 6,500 consumer accounts).

In recent years, the automated meter reading (AMR) system being used to report electric usage by co-op members started to show its age, and Dakota Valley needed to upgrade its system. With DSG’s help, co-op leadership installed Verizon Grid Wide Utility Solutions, and the results have been favorable, to say the least.

Dakota Valley had been dealing with more and more meter reading issues every year.

“The maintenance costs were beginning to get prohibitive,” says Scott Buchholtz, manager of information technology at Dakota Valley. “We were frequently rolling trucks to read or replace meters that had failed, and that can be significant when you serve Scott Buchholtz

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a large rural area like we do. We needed to do something different.”

Dakota Valley explored numerous metering options with the hopes that it would also find a cellular system to explore, but, according to Buchholtz, it didn’t seem like manufacturers were ready for that. “It wasn’t until the last part of our search that we found that Verizon had a solution that seemed to do everything we wanted,” he says.

Verizon’s Grid Wide Utility Solutions is an intelligent energy platform that integrates a secure 4G LTE communications network with an advanced metering platform into a single metering solution. One of the main advantages of Verizon’s Grid Wide Utility Solutions for Dakota Valley was the minimal amount of investment required upfront. “Every utility is different, but we needed an easy way to deploy smart metering technology without the cost and complexity of building a large metering infrastructure,” says Buchholtz. “With this system, we only had to deal with the meters, which, as a utility, is no problem. The software and the network are all hosted by Verizon. It was a minimal investment in terms of the additional software and the integration work needed.”

Dakota Valley was one of the very first utilities to use Verizon’s Grid Wide Utility system. Not only was Dakota Valley considering a cellular option,

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but Verizon showed Dakota Valley it would be a prime candidate for deployment of its system.

Dakota Valley ran a 200-meter pilot project for several months, working through the different attributes that its operation needed. When the trial ended, Dakota Valley was ready to take the next step to full deployment.

To deploy the system, Verizon sought to leverage Dakota Valley’s existing business partners.

In particular, Dakota Supply Group was employed to provide the meters, and DSG became an authorized integrator for Verizon from that time forward. “DSG was a key part of this project,” says Rebecca Hodges, manager of business development and strategic planning for Verizon’s team that handles Grid Wide Utility Solutions.

“They are a valued integrator for us, and this project would not have been a success without their expertise.”

DSG provided approximately 9,000 Aclara meters to Dakota Valley. DSG’s metering experts also integrated the meters with Smart Meter Communication Cards, enabling them to link directly to Verizon’s network. Once DSG tested and confirmed that the cards and the meters were operating properly, it delivered them to Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative to install.

“DSG was very good at helping with the

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metering software,” says Buchholtz. “They installed the cards and tested everything before they were shipped. They also staged the deliveries for us so we didn’t have to store meters that we weren’t ready for.”

With the new system, Dakota Valley is able to better monitor energy consumption, manage remote disconnections and detect outages more quickly. “System reliability has improved dramatically,” says Buchholtz. “Plus, we have an abundance of real-time data coming into our meter data management system, and it’s all in the cloud. Our team can access all other meter info from Grid Wide’s secure hosted website. It’s very easy to use.”

When your customers count on you for reliable power, you have a big responsibility to uphold.

Dakota Valley’s decision to upgrade to a smart metering system with Verizon and DSG is one it can be proud of. “Our members are going to benefit from this upgrade with better service and enhanced reliability,” says Buchholtz. “They trust that we are the experts at providing dependable electricity to them at an affordable price, and this system lets us prove that to them every day.”

Full deployment of the system began in the summer of 2017 and is expected to wrap up sometime in the summer of 2018.

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DSG’s Favorite Hobbies Here at DSG, we share a lot of interests with our customers. If you need proof, check out the results of our latest DSG employee owner survey. The infographics show off our favorite hobbies, and it’s likely that you’ll discover that you and your friends at DSG have a lot in common. Plus, we’ve included photos and even a few stories about DSG customers who have unique hobbies as well.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

(Hunting, Fishing, Hiking)

SPORTS

LIFESTYLE HOBBIES

Classic Cars)

(Cooking, Traveling, Restoring

INDOOR ADVENTURES

(Books, Movies)

HEALTH & FITNESS

NATURE HOBBIES

(Gardening, Landscaping)

ARTS & CRAFTS

(Woodworking, Scrapbooking)

TECHNOLOGY

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(Video Games, Computers)

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Bill Olson | Kuntz Electric in Rochester, MN Bill Olson is a senior project manager at Kuntz Electric in Rochester, MN, but about once every three months he trades in his hard hat for a camera case. That’s when Olson and his trusty Nikon set out on back roads across the country looking for beautiful outdoor scenes to capture and share.

Olson’s passion for photography started when he was in high school.

Today, he spends several weeks out of each year traveling to state and national parks, historical monuments, national forests, wildlife refuges and more to capture what Mother Nature has to offer. He’s shot the hills of Virginia, the vastness of the Rio Grande and the buffalo of Custer State Park (South Dakota), to name just a few.

According to Olson, he’s drawn in by the sense of adventure that goes hand-in-hand with nature photography. “Nature doesn’t always cooperate when you’re trying to capture an elk, and the water isn’t always warm when you’re trying to shoot a pretty riverbed,” says Olson. “You can get into some fairly precarious situations. It’s a lot of fun.”

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Here’s a more specific look at some of our favorite pastimes. Only the top picks are listed, but there were many more. Ask your friends at DSG what their answers were!

WE LOVE THE OUTDOORS

ON THE TEAM

DSG’s favorite outdoor hobbies

The sports we play at DSG

Fishing

Golf

Hunting

Softball

Hiking

Hockey

ATV / Snowmobiling

Basketball

Rafting

LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST

GETTING DIRTY

Our favorite lifestyle pastimes

Nature hobbies that we enjoy

Traveling

Wine / Beer Tasting

Growing Vegetables

Restoring Classic Cars

Landscaping

Growing Flowers

Riding Motorcycles

PLUGGING IN

WORKING OUT

Here’s how DSG does health and fitness

Here’s how we spend time with tech

Exercising

Yoga

Building Computers

Programming

Body Building

SOMETIMES WE STAY IN

Video Games

SOME OF US ARE ARTSY

The indoor adventures we like best

Our favorite arts and crafts hobbies at DSG

Watching Movies

Woodworking

Reading

Painting

Sewing / Knitting

Scrapbooking Writing 12

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Tom Simensen | Simensen Plumbing & Radiant in Kalispell, MT What do a plumber and a fiddle maker have in common? They’re both Tom Simensen. The owner of Simensen Plumbing & Radiant in Kalispell, MT, Simensen also handcrafts unique string instruments.

It all started back in 1994 with a request from his son, Toby, to make him a violin out of some purpleheart wood that Simensen had in his workshop. With a desire to learn, a helpful book from the library and a few months’ time, Simensen completed what he called “The Purpleheart” for his son. From there, he knew that he had found something that would be a lifelong passion. “I didn’t even know I had a love for it until I made one,” says Simensen. “There’s something incredibly fulfilling about transforming a simple piece of wood into something that can make beautiful music.”

Nearly 25 years and thousands of man hours later, Simensen has produced more than 25 instruments, including fiddles and cellos, both acoustic and electric. He experiments with different woods, body shapes and embellishments to craft one-of-a-kind instruments that not only look good, but sound great. In fact, while most fiddles are made with maple for the back and sides of the instrument, Simensen likes to use unconventional, exotic hard woods (such as purpleheart) instead.

Simensen is looking to turn his passion for fiddle making into a full-blown business for his retirement years, and he’s off to a great start. He has his own website at www.fatcatfiddles.com, and he was a recent exhibitor at the Northwest Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit in Oregon.

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La Crosse, list at DSG ia c e sp s le sa even run! rson, inside e of which m so – Brian Ande s w sa tique chain collects an

John Woodruff, sa les support at DS G Rochester, ha been collecting US s Mint Proof Coin Sets from the mid-1970s and th e America The Be autiful Quarters Uncirculated Co in Sets for thirty years.

G Aberdeen, rical associate at DS Tressa Anderson, cle st several s of rocks over the pa has collected hundred ne amber, sto g es, gemstones, ha years, including geod s (found rite teo me l tia some poten coral fossils and even near Aberdeen).

OUR COLLECTIONS

IN THE CARDS

Some of us here at DSG love to collect.

Here’s what we have in our collections.

Our favorite sports cards to collect

Sports Cards

Football

Coins

Baseball

Cars / Trucks

Hockey

Rocks

Basketball

Stamps Antiques Vinyl Records Pez Dispensers 14

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at sales tside 3 u 9 o 1 , is 6 is ald red th cDon h Tim M Paul, resto gave it to . d t n S a DSG Lark nt. baker prese Stude a wedding s wife a

Ashley Barb ee, Falls Waterw counter sales associa te for DSG orks, is rest Sioux oring this 1 once belon 923 T-Bucke ged to his fa t that ther-in-law, Corky.

I’LL BE IN THE GARAGE

15 percent of DSG employee owners who answered our survey have restored something mechanical for fun. Here are some of the machines we’ve worked on.

1914 Model T Speedster

1965 GTO

1977 Mercury Comet

1923 Ford T-Bucket

1967 Chevy Fleetside

1984 BMW 318i

1961 Chevy Nomad Wagon

1968 Camaro

1993 Harley Davidson Sportster

1963 Studebaker Lark

1970 Dodge RT/SE Dodge Challenger

1964 Ford Galaxie 500

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John Cox | Cox Plumbing in Big Lake, MN If you like vegetables, there may not be anything better than those fresh out of a garden – and at least one man would agree. John Cox owns Cox Plumbing in Big Lake, MN. From April to first frost, however, he is a master gardener.

Cox resides on two-and-a-half acres in Big Lake, and on this plot, spanning 50 feet by 80 feet, sits his garden. Every year it produces all sorts of fresh vegetables, including sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, jalapeños and zucchini to name just a few. It also includes some herbs and even a few flowers such as amaryllis and gladiolas. In addition to his large garden, Cox’s property also features an orchard that yields fresh pears, plums, cherries and more.

Cox’s garden and orchard are unique in that they are 100 percent natural. He doesn’t use any fertilizer or chemicals. To keep weeds away, he uses grass clippings. To keep the soil fertile, he rotates his crops every year.

With the produce that the garden provides, Cox will can, pickle and freeze anywhere from 150 to 200 quarts of vegetables each year, including homemade salsa. From the fruit, he makes delicious jams and jellies (including pear jam!). It’s not uncommon for Cox to make more than 400 jars each year, and people love all of it.

Cox has been tending to his garden for more than 30 years, but his green thumb stems back from his childhood. He grew up with 11 brothers and sisters, and his parents had a large garden and would grow all their own produce. Today, Cox has a much smaller immediate family of his own with a wife and two children, so he donates much of the produce to friends, family and his local church. “It wouldn’t be a hobby if I sold it,” he says. “Donating it is the best part. When you see someone’s smile after you give them something, it makes all the effort worth it.”

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n r a e L o T g n u o Y o o T r e v e N

latives kids or young re d n ra g s, d ki r u ve fun Sign up yo b, and they’ll ha lu C s id K G S D e for th ing s – all while learn ze ri p e e fr t e g d an industries. about the trade

sign up now at d n a re o m rn a Le lub.com! www.dsgkidsc

5-12 and between the ages of be t us m rs be em m Kids Club owner. stomer or employee related to a DSG cu

RAISING THE BAR: DSG Partners With The NDSC To Elevate Safety Awareness In early 2018, DSG entered into a partnership with the North Dakota Safety Council (NDSC) to enhance the training opportunities available to electrical and mechanical workers in the region. The goal was to develop an interactive training resource that would elevate students’ understanding of key hazardous energy concepts and procedures. In coordination with its partners at Schneider Electric and JJ Keller, DSG collaborated with the NDSC to create a training tool tailored for technicians in the industrial, commercial, residential and power plant markets.

The training tool is a two-sided interactive display. One side of the display is for mechanical workers and the other is for those in the electrical sector. Both sides show common equipment installations that technicians regularly encounter in the field. The intent of the display is to provide a simulated work environment where contractors and other service professionals can practice hands-on lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures for controlling hazardous energy. It includes a wide array of LOTO products and provides the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for performing those activities.

Michael Place, corporate safety officer for DSG

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and project contributor, discussed how the project exceeded his expectations. “We came into this venture looking for ways to help workers in safetysensitive occupations with training on LOTO and controlling hazardous energy. What we ended up with is a multi-functional training supplement that can be used by a broad range of safety professionals to improve worker safety and comply with OSHA and MSHA regulations. This project will impact learning for thousands of contractors and field workers every year and can be used in courses beyond the ones that are focused on LOTO and hazardous energy.”

Chuck Clairmont, executive director for the NDSC, also shared his views on why this project was so important. “Electrical-related violations make OSHA’s Top 10 List of citations every year.

This project will allow the NDSC to incorporate hands-on electrical safety exercises that will enhance our curriculum and help decrease electrical-related injuries and deaths in North Dakota.”

Rich Wold, senior sales engineer for Schneider Electric, echoed those remarks. “Safety is very important to Schneider Electric. To have an opportunity to help put this project together,

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(Left to right) Rich Wold, Gus Gantzer, Kristin Wilson, Michael Place and Chuck Clairmont showcase the electrical side of the interactive hands-on training display.

knowing it will be used to train others in our industry on proper electrical safety, made it a priority for us.”

None of this would have been possible without the vision of Gus Gantzer, safety instructor and chief architect of the design. He worked with Place and his team to ensure that the project would provide the value that the NDSC was looking for. Gantzer saw early on how the NDSC students would benefit from having hands-on training – a learning method that increases knowledge retention by 65 percent.

“I like the fact that the equipment represents a wide spectrum of residential, commercial and industrial applications, as well as older and newer technology,” Gantzer says. “I love that so many of the various NDSC classes will be using it, including MSHA 46/48, OSHA 10, 30, 500, 501, 502, 510, 511, current electrical training and other new classes being developed.”

For DSG, this project demonstrated another value-added initiative that benefits its customers.

It shows a sincere commitment to ensuring that its business partners stay safe. Kristin Wilson, NDSC business development director, shared her thoughts on DSG’s dedication to safety. “Dakota

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(Left to right) Michael Place, Dwayne Egli and Gus Gantzer stand next to the mechanical side of the interactive hands-on training display.

Supply Group has been an NDSC member for 16 years. During this time, their employees’ passion for safety has been extremely evident.

The partnership was a natural fit – they understand our mission, and their desire to reduce injuries and deaths in North Dakota parallels that of the NDSC.” Last year, the NDSC opened up a new state-ofthe-art training facility in Bismarck, ND, to expand its safety training capabilities. The interactive training display will be used in that location for numerous training courses offered at the NDSC each year. The facility serves a valuable role as there isn’t anything like it between Chicago and Denver. DSG customers, and many other safety professionals across the Midwest, will benefit greatly from the resources and training available.

DSG would like to thank the following for their involvement in this collaboration: Gus Gantzer (NDSC), Chuck Clairmont (NDSC), Kristin Wilson (NDSC), Rich Wold (Schneider Electric), Diane Duquette (JJ Keller), Michael Place (DSG), Dwayne Egli (DSG) and Steve Schmidt (DSG). We also want to thank Square D, JJ Keller, Arc Rated Safety and Ward Manufacturing for providing quality products to use on and with the display.

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MEET THE DSG TEAM |

AN INTERVIEW WITH TOM FERREE, DSG’S NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Tom Ferree chairs DSG’s board of directors. With a long and notable career behind him, Ferree is putting his valuable experience to work guiding DSG into the future. We recently sat down with the Chairman to get to know him a little better.

Connections: Please tell us a little about yourself.

Connections: Where did your career take you next?

Ferree: I grew up in small farming community near Des Moines, IA. I went to the University of Iowa on a track scholarship. My wife was on the women’s track team, and that’s how we ended up meeting. We’ve been married more than 35 years and have two children. Our daughter is a third-year medical student and is going into dermatology, and our son is an accountant for a biotech firm.

Ferree: I served as CFO for Bank One’s credit card business in Ohio. I did that for about nine years. Then I had an opportunity to move back home to Iowa. I was a corporate controller for Meredith Corporation, which is a media company.

Eventually, I became the CFO for Appvion, which is a paper and packaging company in Wisconsin. I retired in June of 2017.

Connections: What type of running did you do?

Ferree: I joined the DSG board in January of 2017.

I was particularly interested in DSG because it’s an ESOP. I have had some past experiences with ESOPs – Appvion is an ESOP, for example – and I have come to really value that business model.

The ESOP community is rather small, so it didn’t take too many phone calls to connect with DSG. In November 2017 I was elected Chairman.

Ferree: I was a long distance runner, so usually anything up to 10,000 meters.

Connections: Besides running, what were you going to school for?

Ferree: Academically, I got a degree in accounting. It was kind of an interesting story, though. During my junior year in college, I was running the steeplechase and came down wrong on one of the water sections. I ended up breaking my foot in four places. It took me out of athletics for a whole year, but I was able to red shirt, so I got an extra year of eligibility. I used that time to get my master’s degree in finance.

Connections: Where did you go from there?

Ferree: I started my career in finance for American Hospital Supply Corporation in Chicago. At that company, if you were on a management track they moved you around. So I worked in Chicago, Los Angeles and El Paso. At one point I was in charge of several facilities in Mexico and spent a lot of time in various cities throughout the country.

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Connections: What led you to become a member of DSG’s Board of Directors?

Connections: What is it about ESOPs that you appreciate?

Ferree: There are a lot of different ways for a business to operate, but ESOPs are unique in that every employee owns the company. For these employee owners, it goes beyond collecting a paycheck. When the company succeeds, so do they.

As a result, they tend to be more engaged and have a stronger commitment to success.

Connections: As it stands today, how would you describe the primary role of DSG’s board of directors?

Ferree: Our responsibility is to DSG’s customers and to its shareholders, which in this case are the employee owners. Overall, our main goals are to

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protect and grow the company, providing every opportunity for our shareholders to be successful.

Connections: In the role of Chairman, what are your main responsibilities?

Ferree: Some people may not know this, but I’m one of the first directors from outside of DSG. Previously, the board was entirely made up of DSG employee owners. I bring an outside perspective on the best practices for DSG to use in running its business.

Connections: From your background, what has prepared you most to take on this role?

Ferree: My time working with other boards and my depth of experience in a variety of industries. I think my diverse background has provided some new ideas and energy to DSG’s leadership.

Connections: What are you hoping to accomplish in your role as Chairman?

Ferree: Currently we’re working to hire a few key additions to DSG’s leadership team in the next few months, including a new CEO and CFO. We’re extremely excited about the candidates so far, and we’re enthusiastic for what opportunities lie ahead.

Connections: You talk about the different perspective that you bring to DSG. From your independent point of view, what have you learned about DSG that is unique and different?

Ferree: DSG is unique in its breadth of product offerings. Most competitors are focused on electrical or plumbing or HVAC solutions, but not a lot of them do it all like DSG does.

Connections: You’ve probably come to realize that DSG customers love the outdoors. Do you share that same fondness?

Ferree: I love the outdoors too. I still run, but just substantially slower these days. Our home is on the bank of a lake, so we do a lot of boating and kayaking. We are outdoors a lot.

Connections: We’re glad to hear you’re still running. Did you ever get into the marathon scene?

Ferree: I ran two marathons. A buddy of mine wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon and asked if I would help him train. I agreed, and he wanted to qualify in San Diego. Four weeks before the race, my friend asked me to run along and pace him. I did, and when we got to mile 18, I thought, “Well, I might as well just keep going.” We both qualified so we both ran in Boston in 2004. I remember that it was the second hottest race ever.

Connections: Is there anything that readers would be surprised to know about you?

Ferree: That’s a hard one. Maybe that I was ranked as one of the Top 100 runners in the world…for about a week.

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Tom Ferree competed as a long-distance runner for the University of Iowa track team.

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GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

BETT E R EV E RY DAY How Training Can Build Your Business

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Think about your favorite sports teams. No matter what event they take part in, they have something in common: nobody gets better without training.

In fact, without exercising their skills and learning new techniques, these athletes would soon fall behind their competitors.

The trade industries work the same way, except training takes on even more importance. When skills deteriorate or understanding falls short, you don’t just lose ground to your competitors, you run the risk of serious injury.

Yet training remains a dreaded chore in many companies, especially those without dedicated staff to facilitate it. This is partially because trainers themselves often lack the training to make the information engaging and partially because the tangible benefits are easy to lose sight of.

The key is to find a trainer who loves his or her job and brings that positive energy to each session. At the same time, it’s beneficial to remind everyone why you encourage training in the first place. Here are just a few of the most important reasons that companies with well trained teams continue to grow and prosper.

TRAIN THEM OR LOSE THEM

The very best employees want training. They seek it out. They understand how it benefits their career. These overachievers may seem like they are in the minority as you watch a large part of your staff yawn through a safety meeting, but that doesn’t make them any less important.

Just the opposite. These top employees are your future leaders, and if you don’t show them that you are committed to growing your business and nurturing their abilities, they will seek out a company that does. Any manager who has tried to hire trade workers in the last five years knows that the best ones are few and far between. You simply cannot afford to lose the ones you already have because they don’t feel like they can reach their WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

potential with your team.

CROSS TRAINING PAYS OFF

One of the biggest benefits of employee training is the ability to improve worker flexibility. If you are a small business, you already know how hard it can be when only one member of your team has a critical skill. They quickly become a bottleneck, with their teammates waiting around for the task to be completed so they can go back to work.

All the jokes about “job security” fall on deaf ears when this mission-critical worker takes a vacation or worse, takes a job elsewhere. Instead of scrambling to train a replacement as deadlines loom, why not train a replacement – or better yet, replacements – well before the need arises?

As stated above, good employees understand that the more they know, the more valuable they become. They will embrace the chance to cross train, and the resulting flexibility will make project management easier and more productive.

SAFETY HELPS YOUR COMPANY STAY HEALTHY

More than 20,000 workers are injured every day.

If those numbers don’t have your attention, then perhaps the dollars and cents will give it some gravity: workplace injuries and illnesses cost the United States upwards of $250 billion a year.

One way or the other, a portion of that money is coming from your company’s bottom line.

Not only should you be concerned about the safety of your employees, you need to be concerned about the health of your business.

Injuries are bad for everyone, and oftentimes they are easily prevented. Spend the extra time and money on good trainers and good materials and your team will get more out of each session. In the end, the benefits of worthwhile safety training far outweigh the costs.

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Continued from page 23

A LITTLE ADVICE GOES A LONG WAY

Not all training is meant for employees. Education is important for owners and managers as well. It can be easy to get caught up in the busy routine of daily tasks, but guidance from a good teacher or mentor should be part of every business leader’s to-do list.

Attending a business management training event can have a tremendously beneficial impact on any business. A good example is DSG’s own P4 Learning Labs (see sidebar). In just two days, these coaching sessions cover everything from employee productivity to profitable hourly rates – all using real numbers from your actual business. The results are tangible and immediate, and you can put the techniques you learn to work immediately.

Other training opportunities might cover important hiring practices or sales techniques.

Whatever part of your management skill set that you want to improve, you can surely find a program to do the job. You might need to take a day or two off from work, but it will be worth it in the end.

GET READY FOR GAME DAY

Just like a winning sports team, you and your staff need to keep improving in order to keep succeeding. Create a business culture that values and rewards training and you will be able to keep better employees, recruit better employees and grow better employees.

Contact your DSG representative to learn more about the training opportunities that we can provide.

Each year, DSG invites contractors to take part in a training session that is designed to improve their business.

By spending just two days with a small-business expert, owners and managers learn how to better:

• Develop hourly rates that guarantee a profit.

• Clarify and track goals to ensure success.

• Add and retain loyal customers even when there are problems.

• Create a service agreement program that takes a business to the next level.

• Experiment with “what ifs” in order to maximize profits.

For more information, visit www.dakotasupplygroup.com or contact your DSG sales representative.

SOURCE: https://www.forbes.com/sites victorlipman/2013/01 /29/why-development-planning-is-important-neglected-andcan-cost-you-young-talent/#37bc61d6f633; https://www. go2hr.ca/articles/employee-training-worth-investment; https://www.epi.org/publication/workplace-injuriesillnesses-cost-250-billion/

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State Of The

INDUSTRY PLUMBING

Pumping Up The Technology PLUMBING SEGMENT MANAGER DARRIN WALTS

The plumbing industry has seen some interesting challenges develop in recent months.

Restrictions on trucking have complicated logistics, and the government’s experimentation with tariffs on steel and aluminum impacted the entire industry from top to bottom.

Fortunately, this industry is nothing if not resilient. In fact, we can use these challenges as opportunities to work more closely together, strengthening our relationships – and ultimately our industry – for the years ahead.

Warmer weather took a little bit longer to arrive this spring, but now that it’s

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here, contractors couldn’t be happier. It means construction season is in full swing, and as infrastructure proceeds to age, plumbers will be busy.

While we continue to deal with the same kink in the labor hose that all trade industries are experiencing, DSG is working hard to find ways to save plumbers time. For instance, we’re working with manufacturers to introduce new connection methods like pushto-connect fittings for PEX or more lightweight products that are easier to handle like plastic polypropylene.

Another exciting development is the national trend to improve water quality.

More than $500 billion is needed to bring our water quality to where it needs to be, and the government recently approved a plan to pump significant funding into these efforts. It looks like it’s going to be a great new revenue source

for contractors.

Finally, some of the technological advancements in plumbing products are exhilarating to say the least.

Take Kohler Konnect, for instance. It incorporates voicecommand technology into the bathroom with smart home products that let consumers speak to their showers, vanities and more. Rinnai is another company on the cutting edge.

Its tankless water heaters are Wi-Fi controlled, offering not only energy savings but convenience. Overall, electronics will continue to have a bigger presence in the plumbing industry as younger generations demand more (and easier) control.

There is no question that the future is going to be exciting for plumbers, and here at DSG, we’re looking forward to helping all of our customers make the most of it.

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GREAT THINGS HAPPENING Great River Energy is a nonprofit wholesale electrical cooperative made up of 28 electrical distribution cooperatives throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin that, in turn, supply electricity to approximately 685,000 member consumers – or about 1.7 million people. One of its primary power generation sources is Coal Creek Station near the city of Underwood, ND, about 50 miles north of Bismarck. It’s not only the cooperative’s largest power plant, it’s the largest power plant in North Dakota. Coal Creek Station’s size isn’t its most impressive

feature, however. It’s the plant’s efficiency that really makes it stand out. All of the lignite coal burned in Coal Creek Station (approximately 18,000 to 22,000 tons per day) goes through a unique lignite fuel enhancement system developed by Great River Energy (and its partners) called the DryFining™ system. This process uses residual heat and a segregation process to reduce the amount of water and undesirable components (e.g., sulfur and mercury) in the coal. As a result, the process of burning the DryFineTM lignite creates fewer emissions and increases plant

AT GREAT RIVER ENERGY efficiencies, while at the same time using less coal.

That helps make Coal Creek Station one of the most reliable and costefficient power plants in the United States.

Coal Creek Station started generating electricity in 1979, and while Great River Energy has made a name for itself as an innovator

in coal power generation, the plant’s lighting needed some attention. “Our fixtures were decades old, and we knew we were going to need to do something about it,” says Jayme Kramer, electrical and instrumentation maintenance planner at Great River Energy. “Our fixtures in the Coal Creek plant were becoming a challenge to maintain because of their obsolescence. The time had come.”

In 2010, Great River Energy kicked off initial efforts to replace all lighting at Coal Creek Station, totaling approximately 10,000 fixtures.

The magnitude of the project was particularly challenging because many of the fixtures needed to be able to repel water. The plant features steel deck flooring that is frequently cleaned with high-powered washers,

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Continued from page 27

Approximately 2,500 RAB LED fixtures light up Coal Creek Station.

causing water to travel down through the deck flooring onto the lower levels, coming into contact with light fixtures as it does. “We needed a fixture that would shed water from above rather than allow it to enter the fixture,” said Kramer.

Great River Energy also wanted a fixture that was easy to install and easy to service. Great River Energy and DSG worked with lighting manufacturer Nulite to develop a custom fixture.

After several iterations, Nulite produced a unique four-foot fluorescent fixture that met all of the plant’s needs.

A team of technicians started the installation on approximately 6,000 fixtures. As time went on and technology advanced, a new LED option for the four-foot fixtures became available from RAB lighting. “Despite all of the options out there, we couldn’t find an LED solution that could do everything we wanted back when we first started,”

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says Kramer. “Once the RAB fixture came along, we were focused solely on using LEDs throughout our plant.”

DSG supplied Great River Energy with approximately 2,500 RAB LED fixtures. In addition, the plant upgraded its high-pressure sodium (HPS) fixtures, a type of lighting designed for harsh, industrial environments.

“With these lights, the maintenance of replacing ballasts and bulbs was getting to be too much,” says Kramer. “Plus, we wanted to improve the dull, yellow light output, and then we saw how nice the light and color were with the LEDs.” DSG supplied Great River Energy with approximately 1,000 Killark LEDs to replace its existing HPS fixtures. With this upgrade, the output direction of the light was especially important: LEDs typically emit light in a specific direction, unlike the existing HPS fixtures that

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emitted light in all directions. “We were replacing lights on a one-to-one basis, so we didn’t have much flexibility when it came to the location of the fixture,” says Kramer. “We went with a bulletnose type of LED fixture that does an outstanding job of providing omnidirectional light.”

Finally, the project also included upgrades to the lighting in Coal Creek Station’s cooling towers.

The continuous use of water and the resulting humidity made the area especially problematic for lighting, and the plant was seeing a lot failures

Great River Energy, DSG and Nulite engineers worked together to design a custom fixture.

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in the old lights. Here, DSG supplied Great River Energy with 24 Eicko high-lumen fixtures.

Today, Great River Energy continues to work on the installation of its new lighting fixtures at Coal Creek Station and is considering more upgrades in the future, including the potential for improvements to its outdoor lights. “This was an incredibly important upgrade for us,” says Kramer.

“We’ve realized significant cost savings in both maintenance and electricity, and we’ve been able to pass those on to our members.”

Great River Energy replaced its old high-pressure sodium fixtures with new Killark LEDs.

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GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

CAN FACEBOOK REPLACE YOUR WEBSITE?

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It isn’t easy to maintain a website. The internet just isn’t a “set it and forget it” kind of endeavor. Not only do you need to keep your content updated, you need to accommodate new viewing technologies like mobile devices that seem to change sizes every generation.

As a result, some contractors have found it easier to forego a website altogether and instead maintain an online presence only on social media. In particular, Facebook seems to be the most popular choice. Using Facebook is easy, that’s for sure, but is it really better for business than a dedicated website? Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of using Facebook as your company’s only presence on the internet.

SEARCHABILITY This is probably the most significant issue listed here.

Now that the web has entirely supplanted the phone book and yellow pages, it’s by far the number one resource you have for attracting new customers (other than word of mouth, of course). For the last decade or so, that has meant doing whatever you can to appeal to Google’s search algorithm (a program that chooses which websites contain the most appropriate results to show after a search). Few people use Facebook’s search functions to find a business.

Due to the immense clutter on the internet, this can be a challenge for any website. Good search engine optimization is the key when any website is programmed, making sure that the right keywords are used throughout (for example, if you are an electrician in Sioux Falls, your website needs to say so a good number of times – you would be surprised at how many sites forget basics like this). All the optimization in the world can’t overcome the fact that Facebook and Google compete for the same ad dollars, though. This means that while Facebook pages do show up in Google search results, it is very challenging to coerce Google into showing them very high. That underlying friction between the two

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companies seems to have an impact on visibility, whether anybody will admit it or not.

If you want more people to find you easily on the internet, a website is the clear choice here.

WINNER: WEBSITE

UPDATES Building your website with a good content management system (often called a CMS) goes a long ways toward evening the odds here. The most popular CMS is called WordPress, and it allows virtually anyone with the login credentials to make changes to a properly-built web page. A good CMS allows you to put almost any information you want on your website, from a video to a survey. But no CMS is perfect, and they still aren’t as easy as making a simple Facebook post.

It can be argued that Facebook’s organization of your information leaves something to be desired (to find information you need to scroll down on your timeline), but for some contractors, this simply does not matter. As long as people can see the basics, they are satisfied. To that end, it’s hard to argue that flipping on your phone and making a quick post isn’t the easier way to put new information on the web.

WINNER: FACEBOOK

CONTROL This one is easy. Facebook relentlessly fiddles with its platform. Ask any professional who works with Facebook to describe its features, and they will almost certainly say something like “it changes every day.” Not only will Facebook’s team make changes to content, tools and policies, it will do it with very little (sometimes zero) warning. The basic features stay fairly consistent, but anything deeper than a simple post is subject to Facebook’s obsessive tweaking. One day a setting will have

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two options to choose from; the next day there will be three.

Unfortunately, this can adversely impact even the most basic user. Just when you get used to your profile image looking a certain way, Facebook’s designers will force you to change it. Perhaps worst of all, contacting Facebook for support is possibly the most frustrating exercise in futility on the web.

Forums are packed with thousands of business owners asking each other for help while Facebook itself is silent.

If you want to be in complete control of your own content on the web, don’t look to Facebook.

WINNER: WEBSITE

DELIVERY OF INFORMATION With a good CMS like WordPress, the creation of content (stories, blogs, photos, videos, etc.) is a very easy process on both your website and your Facebook page. Facebook, however, does a much better job of putting your messages out in front of possible customers – with a caveat. Facebook didn’t get to be one of the world’s most profitable companies by giving away its services.

The social media platform will gladly show your message to a tiny fraction of the people who like your page, but it will gladly show it to everybody else for a price. In other words, as long as you are willing to pay to “boost” your posts with Facebook, you can push your message out in front of people rather than waiting for them to visit your website. If you choose to boost every post it can get expensive fast. Facebook wins here, but it’s not as cut and dried as it seems.

WINNER: FACEBOOK

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STATISTICS Facebook is a little like a house where somebody built a basic structure, then added on different pieces and parts over the years: a garage here, a second story there. The result can be a little disjointed. This definitely applies to the metrics it offers. If you want an easy-to-read, in-depth look at how many people are seeing your messages, who they are and how they are finding your information, Facebook can be a challenge to use.

The statistics it provides have improved over the years, but they’re still not even close to Google Analytics, a free service that can be built very easily into your website.

Google Analytics gives you as much information about your website as you could possibly want, in an easy-to-view manner. Want to know how long people view your site before leaving? Want to know what pages they are coming from when they visit?

Want to know what part of the world they live in? Want to know which of your web pages is the most popular and which ones need improvement?

Google Analytics is a great tool for making the most of your online content. It’s not perfect, but it is significantly superior to the same functions on Facebook.

WINNER: WEBSITE (WITH GOOGLE ANALYTICS)

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If you are keeping score, it would seem that the winner is a website, right? Not so fast. Experts agree that if you want to make your business as visible as possible on the internet, you need a strategy that utilizes both a website and social media. The key is to develop them together so they complement one another without creating more work for you or your team. An example of this might be a simple blog on your website that you can share on Facebook. Perhaps you write a brief story on your website about how new plumbing code is going to change how installations are performed, then you simply paste that web address into a Facebook post and let social media do the rest. Once you get the hang of it, creating new content for your website and social media platforms can be ten times more effective at bringing in new customers without being twice the work.

Want to know more? Speak to your DSG representative, and they can arrange a conversation with someone from DSG’s Marketing Team. They would be more than willing to share their experiences with online marketing so you can make the most of your business on the web.

SOURCE: https://www.thebalance.com/is-your-website-orfacebook-better-to-reach-your-audience-2315322

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JOB SITE |

DEFUSING DISAGREEMENTS

As any married couple will tell you, spending significant lengths of time with another human being inevitably leads to conflict. It should be no surprise then, that teammates sometimes disagree at work. After all, they may actually spend more time together during the week than they do with their mates. Familiarity doesn’t necessarily need to breed contempt, but there’s no doubt that it will eventually result in disputes. If you’re in a leadership position with your crew, it’s your job to keep everybody on task in spite of this occasional friction. Here are some tips for handling conflict between two members of your team:

Don’t Wait

Small issues can become large problems very quickly. In general, the sooner you address an issue, the easier it is to contain.

If you wait too long in the hopes that the parties involved will “work it out amongst themselves,” you create potential for the issue to snowball. We’ve all been in arguments where the point of contention seems to grow on its own – before you know it, you don’t just disagree on the initial cause of the conflict, but also how each party has handled the conflict.

That snowball can pick up mass and turn into an avalanche very quickly. Start the resolution process early so everyone involved can focus on the real issue, not the hurt feelings that come with it.

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Listen

If you are a “take charge” kind of person, it can be tempting to rally your troops and start solving the problem through sheer force of will. Take care – if you do this, the problem may be solved temporarily as everyone follows your directives, but the embers of the core problem will often continue to glow. You may get a short-term reprieve from the conflict, but without listening you’ll never really know what the root of the conflict was. It can be a lot of work to listen to each party as they share their side of the story, but those stories often contain important revelations about your operation (“It all started with an argument over which one of us had to fix that machine that always breaks down”). Listen first. Then move onto the next step.

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Ask Questions

This is related to listening, obviously. Assumptions are often harmful to the resolution process. By digging deeper, you can sometimes identify a misunderstanding that is at the root of the problem. These are some of the easiest types of conflict to resolve, because once everybody has all the facts, they tend to calm down. The reason that a misunderstanding grew into a conflict is that nobody asked the right questions. Why are you acting this way? What happened to cause you to feel that way? Stop the “yes and no” questions and keep your inquiries open-ended. This gives everybody a reason to talk, and you’d be surprised how often that talking can help them to recognize the big picture or their adversary’s point of view.

When Possible, Help Everybody To Save Face Competition can be good, but resolution is more effective in a work situation if there aren’t any distinct “winners.” There will be times when you will need to let one of the conflicting parties go, but in our modern job market, acting too rashly can be counterproductive to getting a project completed. In addition, there is seldom a clear cut “right and wrong” in most arguments. In the end, there will be many instances where both parties will need to continue working together, and the future always looks brighter if everybody feels like they got something out of the exchange.

You never want to reward uncooperative behavior, but a worker will many times feel better just WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

knowing that they got an opportunity to tell their frustrations to a leader who really listened.

When resolving conflict, the key is to walk away with those teammates feeling that the process accomplished something (even if they didn’t necessarily “get their way”).

Focus On Praise

Rewarding your crew doesn’t always need to be expensive or time-consuming.

Give extra kudos to those who exemplify the values you want your team to stand for, but also find time to encourage those who need a little help staying on track. If everybody feels like they are being recognized for their work, they are less likely to become jealous or passive-aggressive. Teamwork starts at the top, and the more positive energy you provide to your crew, the less they’ll focus on the little things that make our jobs so much work.

Some conflicts can’t be solved easily, and that means you may have to let somebody go. It’s never OK to let a malcontent worker spread corrosion among the ranks, for example. However, if you follow the steps provided here, you can identify those malcontents more easily – or better yet, you may discover that the conflict wasn’t as big of a deal as everybody thought. In those cases, your team might actually emerge from the conflict stronger than when they went into it. Everybody on your team doesn’t need to be great friends; they just need to be great teammates.

Sources: https://www.notredameonline.com/resources/ negotiations/6-simple-workplace-conflict-resolution-techniques/#.

WnMQHpM-end, https://www.inc.com/molly-reynolds/5-ways-toresolve-business-conflict.html

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State Of The

INDUSTRY ELECTRICAL

Preparing For A

Strong Future ELECTRICAL / AUTOMATION SEGMENT MANAGER JOHN GEARMAN

The electrical industry throughout the United States has seen an uptick in the last several months, and there are plenty of things to be excited about. Contractors in oil country are getting busy again now that wells are back in service, metro areas like Minneapolis/St. Paul continue to boom and multifamily projects are hot pretty much everywhere.

With that said, we are all still challenged by a shortage of workers (this is true for all of the trade industries, really). There remains a strong misconception that a four-year degree is the only course of action after high school. In response, it’s

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important for all of us in the trades to spread the word about how valuable a two-year degree can be and how beneficial a career in the trades really is.

Here in Sioux Falls, SD, we’re seeing contractors experience success by offering internship programs and connecting with high schools. At DSG, we’re collaborating with fellow distributors and manufacturers to identify ways that we can help contractors to overcome their labor challenges. Seeking out and offering the latest in labor-saving products; funding scholarships (like the DSG Education Connection Fund); and even providing training on succession planning – these are just a few of the ways DSG is lending a hand. The publicity surrounding this topic lately is encouraging. The more people that can bring awareness, the better. After all, we’re all in this together.

As I look around the industry, I see many exciting

opportunities we should all be taking advantage of.

Connectivity, for example, is only going to become more and more important. Internetbased controls are increasingly being integrated into lighting platforms, and automation is a major focal point. Homeowners and business owners continue to demand more control of their lighting, their infrastructure and their technology.

We are also collaborating more and more with other trade industries as building integration continues to grow in popularity.

Increasingly, the controls for the electrical, HVAC/R and even plumbing systems work closely together. Strong relationships among trade professionals are becoming more important every day, and a deep understanding of interconnectivity is a big selling point for any contractor.

We’re becoming more connected, for sure, and the opportunities it presents should be encouraging for us all.

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PUTTING THE ABLE IN

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE To the uninitiated, working in Accounts Receivable can be a tough gig. After all, there is an art to collecting money from customers while simultaneously preserving relationships and cash flow. The employee owners that make up the Accounts Receivable (A/R) team at DSG, however, embrace the challenge with a refreshing attitude: they view it as a rewarding opportunity to help DSG customers succeed.

DSG’s A/R team is made up of five credit managers and three associates located throughout DSG’s service territory. They are primarily responsible for processing customer payments and handling collections when needed, but they also set up and manage accounts, set credit limits, and assess accounts for risks.

An important goal for any A/R department is ultimately to collect money, but at DSG, that role is only the beginning. The DSG A/R team aims to help customers put themselves in the best situation possible for their business, and they do so in a positive and compassionate manner.

“Being a business owner is hard work,” says Robyn McNellis, credit manager at DSG in

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Helena, MT. She is responsible for all of the accounts in Montana, as well as those served by the Rapid City, SD, branch and the Williston, Dickinson and Minot, ND, branches. “I’ve been a business owner myself, and I know that things happen that are out of our control. Everyone struggles sometimes; everyone goes through tough times. We understand that here at DSG.” “Our entire team is incredibly understanding,” adds Dionne Dean, credit manager at DSG in La Crosse, WI. She handles all the accounts in Wisconsin as well as those at the Alexandria, Austin, Grand Rapids, Rochester and Winona, MN, branches. “We try to give our customers the benefit of the doubt. We know that no one wants to be in debt, so we make sure that our customers are treated that way.”

DSG’s A/R department implements a number of policies to make paying bills a little easier for customers. For instance, DSG allows weekly payments to help customers avoid late charges and interest. DSG will also take credit card payments of any amount without charging a processing fee. In addition, the company allows automatic

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(Left to right) Robyn McNellis, DSG credit manager, working with plumbing counter sales associate Daniel Warsinski at DSG in Helena, MT.

(Left To Right) Sue Wrobel, DSG credit associate, working with Dionne Dean, DSG credit manager, at DSG in La Crosse, WI.

withdrawls and accepts online bill pay to save contractors the time and hassle of writing checks.

For customers who are struggling with outstanding balances, DSG offers payment program options such as Cash On Delivery (COD) +25%. Let’s say a customer owes $100 for a recent order in addition to some overdue invoices. With this program, the customer would pay $125, with $100 paying the current invoice in full and $25 going toward past due invoices. “It helps our customers to continue to do business while still making progress on old invoices,” says Dean.

Another way DSG helps to keep cash flow moving for its customers is with its 2-day business credit – a promise made as part of its Customer Service Guarantee. If customers return any stock product, they will be issued a credit within two business days. These credits can be processed as payments on an invoice, rather than credits to their account.

The focus in many A/R departments is placed upon getting customers up-to-date on their invoices, but at DSG, the goal is not only to get customers out of challenging debt situations, but to prevent them from ever getting there in the first place. For instance, training opportunities

like DSG’s P4 Learning Labs help contractors to determine a profitable hourly rate, as well as strategies for getting paid promptly from their own customers. “We often see that contractors aren’t charging enough for the valuable work that they do,” says Dean. “We hate to see them sell themselves short.”

DSG credit managers also make sure not to extend too much credit. “We assess credit applications carefully and identify a fitting limit for each customer individually,” says McNellis. “We don’t want to put our customers in a bad situation that could lead to problems.”

According to McNellis, when it comes to collecting money, open communication is an important part of keeping things positive.

“Communication is the key to us being able to help a customer,” she says. “When customers are willing to talk with us, we’re then able to listen to what they’re going through and identify the best ways for them to improve their situation.”

Giving customers the tools they need to run their business successfully is the ultimate goal of DSG’s A/R department. Looking ahead, the goal will remain steadfast, and DSG will continue to look for new ways to make the payment process easier for everyone involved.

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GETTING TO KNOW THE

MANDAN, ND, PUTS THE SENSUS FLEXNET SYSTEM TO WORK In the early part of 2014, the City of Mandan, ND, partnered with Advanced Engineering to replace its aging automatic water meter reading system and older water meters. Its system, which consisted of a walk-by touch-read system and a drive-by radio-read system, was becoming labor intensive, and the accuracy of the older meters was starting to become an issue.

In order to upgrade its system, decision makers looked to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution for its 7,150 service connections and contracted with DSG to move forward.

DSG supplied Mandan with a Sensus FlexNet AMI system and facilitated the retrofit of all the meters with Sensus FlexNet SmartPoint™ radio transmitters. In addition to retrofitted meters, the system included two antennas that were attached to towers strategically located at the north and south ends of the city. For the installation, DSG

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partnered with a contractor that specializes in installing and implementing Sensus meters and FlexNet AMI systems throughout the United States.

Nearly five years later, Mandan is reaping the rewards of its new system. The system is so powerful that Mandan can actually “hear” transmitters installed in cities located nearly 30 miles away. Meter readings can be taken hourly instead of once a month, allowing the city to optimize its billing cycle.

The FlexNet AMI system also allows the city to process customer requests for a final water meter reading (due to a resident moving, for example) almost immediately. In addition, it’s much easier to resolve billing complaints. The city can simply go online to view consumption and create a spreadsheet to send to the customer.

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FLEXNET SYSTEM THE ADVANTAGES OF A SMART WATER NETWORK A smart water network solution succeeds if it can achieve three primary goals: 1. A robust and powerful network that will last.

The Sensus FlexNet communication network is one of the strongest in the industry. The primaryuse FCC-licensed frequency of the FlexNet system allows for the use of a high-powered, two-watt transmitter at each endpoint that is critical for water assets that are not easy to reach.

2. Extended battery power and life.

The patented radio modulation employed by Sensus allows M2 SmartPoints to be reached every minute of every day for control, meter data and other information. That takes a well-designed

Numerous considerations are in play for utility officials when choosing a data communication system. It is a substantial investment, with the eyes of regulatory agencies and customers watching intently. Among the smartest of decisions an official can make during the selection process is to minimize transmission risk and increase reliability.

To do so, it is necessary to secure a guaranteed position from which to operate within America’s finite radio spectrum bandwidth. Primary-use licenses supply that position, with protection from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The advantages of transmitting through a

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battery. Having put more than three decades of experience into the design of M2 SmartPoints for two-way water communications, Sensus offers a 20year battery life warranty.

3. Durable construction.

Water infrastructure exists in difficult and harsh environments. Conditions can include everything from flooding to extreme temperatures. Field devices must be capable of surviving in these hostile environments for extended periods of time. Sensus has proven time and time again that its technology performs even under the most adverse conditions.

primary-use system are many. However, the single most important benefit rests in the amount of control the water utility has access to. In a primaryuse system, the water utility has 100 percent control of its transmission environment. Sensus operates from a nationwide primary-use channel at the 900 MHz level, which covers 100 percent of the United States’ geographical footprint.

This gives Sensus customers unlimited access to the assets that lie within the FCC’s primary-use spectrum at this level.

Under FCC rules, if a primary-use license Continued on page 42

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Continued from page 41

holder encounters an interfering transmission that raises the noise floor by just one decibel, the primary-use holder has the legal right to demand the secondary-use holder stop transmitting.

Utilities that work via secondary-use systems are at the mercy of primary-users. Secondary-use utilities must negotiate with the primary spectrum holder for how much, and when, their transmissions may be sent and received.

Another issue with secondary-use licenses is the additional hierarchy of use within the secondary spectrum itself. Operating at the 450 to 470 MHz level, secondary-use license holders who deploy voice transmissions are given preference over data and telemetry users. Voice license holders, such as

fire, police and emergency services – or even taxi and pizza companies – have a limited transmission radius to transmit in segments of 12.5 kHz. Add to that community the data and telemetry transmissions of a utility. Under FCC law, the pizza company or taxi driver has the legal grounds to have the utility stop transmissions that interfere with its voice signals.

The essence of the difference between primary- and secondary-use licenses can be summed up in a single word: Freedom. Primaryusers have the freedom to transmit when they want, and customers can access data when they want. Secondary-users are forced to contend with transmission interference, limited spectrum availability, and the mandate to step aside when primary transmissions are in play to allow for their unfettered path. A utility operating with a secondary-use license is clearly in the back seat – a costly position from which to operate for its customers.

Utility officials are cautioned to clearly understand how a vendor is using the word “licensed.” When evaluating a meter data communications system, be sure to clarify whether the system will operate with a primary-use license that guarantees transmissions, or from the secondary-use spectrum of lower frequency, lowerpowered transmissions.

Sensus products are available from DSG in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. To learn more about the advantages of the Sensus FlexNet system, talk to your local DSG waterworks representative.

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SHARE YOUR OWN OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Upload your photos, videos and stories at www.dsgoutdoors.com.

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1. Wildlife at Glacier National Park, photo submitted by Pat McKinney, DSG Kalispell

5. 41-inch northern pike, photo submitted by Dustin Moore, Master Construction

2. Fish caught at Lake Erie, photo submitted by Spencer Mews, Mattheis Plumbing and Jeff Karr, DSG Pierre

6. Black drum (18 lbs.) caught at Florida’s Ft. Meyers Beach, photo submitted by Tim McDonald, DSG St. Paul

3. Spring turkey, photo submitted by Mike Pickens, DSG Helena

7. Elk (score 450), photo submitted by Donahue Williamson, Wires R Us

4. Large-mouth bass (7 lbs.) caught in northern Florida, photo submitted by Brett Kaltvedt, Midwestern Mechanical

GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

PUTTING GOOGLE ADWORDS TO Somewhere in an office building in Mountain View, CA, a group of Google programmers is deciding how your website will appear in the Google search engine – not only your website, of course, but everyone’s websites. These programmers adjust and tweak the company’s decision-making engine, known as an algorithm, dozens of times each week.

Their goal is to make it more and more human – that is, when a person does a search using Google, the company wants the results to be intuitive, as if another person had listened to the request, interpreted the information and the context and made the best decision about what websites to suggest.

All those adjustments can make Google search results at times unpredictable and at times frustratingly hard to change. It’s a powerful tool for sure – what contractors don’t want their company’s contact information to be shown when a prospect searches for “electrician” or “plumber?” However, if you’re consistently the third or fourth electrician or plumber shown, it can be a little vexing.

The advantage of AdWords Fortunately, there is something you can do. First of all, make sure your website is well built and up to date (Google loves it when you put new information on your website). However, if your competitors are

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doing the same thing, this will only get you so far. A more predictable course of action is to pay Google to put your website above the normal search results (often referred to as “organic”). You do this using a service that Google calls AdWords.

Start by creating an account with Google. If you have a Gmail account, this step is already done.

Then go to www.adwords.google.com. There, a set-up wizard will ask you questions about your website, your customers and the kinds of words and phrases they might use to find your business online. You can choose between AdWords and AdWords Express, a drastically simplified version of the service that answers some of the questions for you. Unfortunately, the Express interface takes away much of the flexibility that makes AdWords so powerful. The good news is that you can begin with AdWords Express if you’d like, and convert your account to a more robust traditional AdWords account later with very little hassle.

Both versions of AdWords work on a simple premise: choose a “keyword” that you think your customers search for (“electrician” might be an example), create a simple ad (mostly made up of text describing your business) and then make a bid for how much you think each “click” that leads to your website is worth ($1.00 might be a

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WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS reasonable place to start, depending on the market you are in). Then, each time somebody searches for “electrician” in your chosen geographic area, your ad and bid are entered into an auction with anybody else competing for the same result. The entire process takes milliseconds, and the results determine the order in which the ads are displayed.

AdWords lets you set a daily budget so you don’t overspend, then you let the system do its thing, checking in every so often to gauge progress and make adjustments. Google AdWords is simple to start, but challenging to master. Here are some tips that can help you to get the most of your paid search results:

1. Don’t get carried away with keywords It’s tempting to add every word combination you can think of to AdWords, but human searchers tend to make things as easy as they can. You’ll find that the keyword “electrician” is searched significantly more than the keyword phrase “how do I find an electrician in St. Paul.” In fact, if your company is in St. Paul, Google will often do some of this work for you and show the exact same search results, anticipating that the searcher wants a contractor nearby. You can add 1,000 keywords but only 20 or 30 of them will get all the clicks, and too many options just makes managing your account

more time consuming. Save yourself the trouble and just pick the sure bets – at least to start with.

Save

2. Monitor your bidding Unfortunately, AdWords isn’t really a “set it and forget it” sort of system. You’ll make yourself crazy if you try to watch it every day, but you do need to check in every few days. Why? If your competitors are outbidding you or your budget is too low, your ad might be relegated to the second or third page of a search result, which does you very little good.

Don’t be afraid to raise your bids. Each bid is a “max spend,” which means that more often than not your actual cost is much lower. You may bid $1.75 per click but if your keywords are good and your ad is good, you’ll likely pay much less ($1.00 per click, for example).

3. Refine your ads The pros use a method of refining ad performance called A/B testing. The concept is simple: create two ads in AdWords, watch them for a time, then replace the version that doesn’t perform as well.

Create a new ad to test alongside the winner and repeat. Note that AdWords has some features that will offer to take care of parts of this process on Continued on page 46

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2018 – ISSUE 1 | CONNECTIONS

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Continued from page 45 your behalf. Be warned that while the algorithm does a good job with search results, it’s not as good at A/B testing. If you automate any part of the process, you will want to keep an eye on your results.

4. Create landing pages At the core of Google’s search results is a concept known as “relevancy.” It applies to both organic and paid search results. In essence, it is a measure of how closely a website’s information relates to the search itself. For example, if you do a search for steak house, a website for Randy’s Steak House that talks a lot about steak will be very relevant, but a website that is about steak sauce will be less relevant – still steak, but not quite a perfect match.

To take advantage of relevancy, it pays to create specific pages on your website that talk a lot about the most important keywords you are bidding on.

For example, if you are an HVAC/R contractor that specializes in freezers for grocery stores, then it is smart to build a page about grocery stores on your website and an ad that discusses grocery store freezers specifically. Finally, you bid on the keyword phrase “grocery freezer service.” You hit the trifecta when somebody does that search – you are bidding on the keyword, your ad discusses the keyword and the landing page that the click leads to features the keyword Plu

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prominently. All that “relevancy” not only leads to more clicks, it allows the algorithm to charge you less for them.

5. Consider professional help If that last paragraph was a little too much for you, you may want to consider contracting with an AdWords professional to help you out. AdWords is always a powerful tool, but if you really spend the time to get good at it, AdWords can be an almost unfair advantage over your competitors. Prices vary, of course, but some search professionals work for just a few hundred dollars a month – and if you are in a competitive market, it can be well worth the cost. How do you find one? Ironically, a Google search is usually a great place to start.

One last note – at the time of this story being written, Google has re-branded its experimental “Google Home Services” program as “Local Services

by Google.” This program has been in beta testing for a few years and now will be offered in about 30 select U.S. cities by the end of 2018. It combines some of the functions of AdWords (except based on the type of job) along with lead management, reviews, and even a Google-backed guarantee. While this program is being developed specifically with contractors like electricians and plumbers in mind, it is still too early to tell how helpful or successful it will be. Look for more information on “Local Services by Google” in future issues of Connections magazine.

Are you ready to climb to the top of Google search results using the company’s AdWords platform? There’s no time like the present! Now that so many customers start their search for a contractor online, marketing on Google may yield a lot more benefits than traditional media like radio or newspaper. It’s a brave new world, but with a little work you can change the internet’s landscape in your company’s favor.

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THE CROSSWORD CONNECTION Untitled Put your knowledge to the test with this crossword puzzle about some of DSG’s most respected manufacturer-partners.

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See answer key on page 50.

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5. This company manufactures the powerful Shark series pumps.

It’s company name the is also the last name of 1979 5. This company manufactures powerful Shark series of PGA Master’s champ. pumps.

Its company name is also the last name of the 1979 7. This successful plumbing manufacturer shares its PGA Master’s champ. name with a famous actress (who also happened to be

7. This manufacturer shares its name thesuccessful mother of plumbing Mariska Hartigay). with famous actress (whoplumbing also happened be the 9. a This is DSG’s primary partner.toYou maymother of know Mariska from Law & Order: thisHargitay company by its slogan: TheSVU). bold look of ________.

9. This is DSG’s primary plumbing partner. You may know this 11. A world leader in tools and software for the company by its slogan: The Bold Look Of ________. communications industry, this company’s name is what

some leader may call lucky accident or chance 1. A world 1 in atools and software for the happening. communications industry, this company’s name is what some may call a lucky accident or chance happening.

NEWS WIRE |

DSG Establishes Electrical Project Quotations And Management Team In early 2018, DSG introduced a new strategy for quoting electrical projects. Fueled by aspirations for continual improvement, DSG established a team of quotations specialists to lead the charge in refining the company’s process for providing bids for electrical contractors.

For several months, key quotation specialists from various DSG branches pooled their best practices and ideas together to develop a more systematic approach to estimating electrical projects. “There wasn’t anything wrong with the way we were doing quotes; we just wanted to do it better,” says Clark Marshall, twin cities sales manager and one of the employee owners leading the way on this initiative. “With this team in place, we’ve raised the bar, and we’re confident that our customers will notice the difference.”

Headquartered for the most part in DSG branches in Fargo, ND, and St. Paul, MN, this team of ten or so quotations specialists is focused on producing comprehensive and consistent quotes, primarily for commercial and industrial electrical projects. “We want our customers to know that when they receive an estimate from us, it includes everything they need to complete their project successfully,” says Marshall. “We consider everything from electrical codes to labor-saving items in an effort to provide all the information they need up front.

The result is less uncertainty and fewer delays, ultimately saving them time and money.”

In addition, DSG is complementing its quotations specialists with a team of electrical project managers.

After a project is awarded to DSG, a project manager will work to see the order through to the end, proactively scheduling deliveries and providing progress updates.

To learn more, speak to your local DSG representative.

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DSG’s quotations team in St. Paul includes (from left to right) John Jacobson, Chris Rutherford, Cody Waslien and Rebecca Hovsepian.

Mike Monson and Heather Hughes make up the quotations team in Rochester, MN.

(From left to right) Jay Peterson and Bonny Carlson make up the quotations team at DSG Aberdeen.

The Fargo quotations department team includes (from left to right) Skip Haugland, Mike Grossman, Jordan Seiler, Dave Mortenson and Chad Baumgartner (not pictured).

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DSG Puts The Focus On Its Showrooms With New Initiative

DSG’s ASPIRE Design Showroom Gallery in Plymouth, MN, showcases the latest in showers, baths, sinks and more.

DSG opened its new ASPIRE Design Showroom Gallery in Plymouth, MN, in the fall of 2017, but that’s only the first part of the big news regarding DSG’s showrooms. Now, DSG has set in motion a new initiative to take all of its showrooms to an even higher level in the next five years.

Led by DSG’s Plumbing Segment Manager Darrin Walts, this initiative is aimed at ensuring that DSG showrooms are providing the best possible experience for contractors and their customers. In addition to proactively seeking out ways to make it easier and faster to select products, DSG is looking to add even more showrooms to locations throughout DSG’s service area. Currently, DSG showrooms include the aforementioned ASPIRE Design Showroom Gallery, as well as the Water Mosaic Fixture & Faucet Gallery in Kalispell, MT. Several other branches include more modest showrooms.

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DSG customers can also expect to see a stronger alignment between plumbing and electrical offerings, as well as more technology integrated into its displays. DSG showrooms will continue to evolve to further accommodate changing consumer shopping preferences, whether that’s in store or online (or a mix of the two).

“We see the value that showrooms can provide to our partners,” says Walts. “For example, our showroom consultants have endless knowledge and can spend time with the homeowner – time that a contractor just doesn’t have. Now we want to offer those benefits to even more of our customers.”

To learn more about DSG’s ASPIRE Design Showroom Gallery, visit www.aspiredsg.com. To learn more about DSG’s Water Mosaic Fixture & Faucet Gallery, visit www.watermosaickalispell.com.

2018 – ISSUE 1 | CONNECTIONS

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NEWS WIRE |

2018 P4 Learning Labs Give Contractors The Edge

Early this year, DSG’s annual P4 Learning Lab training events attracted contractors from across the upper midwest to Minot, ND, Aberdeen, SD, Rochester, MN, and Missoula, MT. All in all, more than fifty business owners and leaders attended, including a record turnout in Missoula.

As always, attendees got hands-on training and advice with a respected business expert who specializes in helping contractors to succeed. This year’s topics included ways to develop a profitable hourly rate, improved goal tracking, strategies for attracting and retaining loyal customers, tactics for creating service agreements and more.

DSG’s 2018 P4 Learning Labs gave contractors a head start on profitability.

“I loved all of the content... you spent a lot of time with individual businesses to make sure we were benefitting from everything that was covered.”

“Second time I’ve gone. I was not disappointed.

We as a company will be using all of this – and applying it.”

“The software presented was an excellent tool to visualize cash flow and realize the true expenses of the business.”

Here’s a little of what 2018’s P4 attendees had to say: “It was kind of eye-opening. Some ideas I had were completely wrong, and others were confirmed. It gave me ideas about what to concentrate on.”

Look for information about next year’s P4 Learning Lab training events coming soon!

Crossword Connection Answer Key (From Page 47) Untitled

“I knew before I came here that I needed help with my budget, but now I know that it will be possible to pay off my loans and hopefully put away money for when we need it (if I follow my budget). Now I can live with a lot less stress.”

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2. Combine the last name of 2016 Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback Sam with the last name of hall of fame Greenbay Packer Reggie to get this innovative water heater manufacturer’s name.

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North Dakota: Bismarck (800) 363-7112 Bismarck Waterworks (855) 337-9258 Dickinson (855) 245-2098 Fargo (800) 437-4702 Fargo Waterworks (800) 342-4676 Grand Forks (800) 633-2211 Minot (800) 472-2145 Williston (800) 637-0170

P.O. Box 13573 Grand Forks, ND 58208-3573

South Dakota: Aberdeen (800) 660-5532 Mitchell (800) 660-5534 Pierre (800) 660-5537 Rapid City (800) 660-5538 Sioux Falls (800) 540-8215 Sioux Falls Waterworks (800) 660-5531

Minnesota: Alexandria (800) 345-0094 Austin (800) 521-6747 Bemidji (866) 506-0280 Grand Rapids (877) 327-1454 Ham Lake (763) 784-4478 Monticello (888) 295-9355 Oakdale (651) 777-1044 Plymouth (800) 328-3976 Rochester (800) 562-1784 St. Paul (800) 652-9784 Winona (800) 237-0470

Wisconsin: La Crosse (800) 279-2726 Plover (800) 472-1661 Rice Lake (800) 962-2759

Montana: Billings (844) 753-9120 Bozeman (800) 416-0005 Helena (800) 697-0005 Kalispell (800) 949-0005 Missoula (888) 865-0005

Minot Williston Grand Forks Dickinson

Kalispell Missoula

Helena Bozeman

Bismarck Billings

FARGO

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